Tributes have been paid to a pensioner who was fatally injured when she was struck by a car when she stopped to buy a GAA lotto ticket in the centre of Charleville town in North Cork on Saturday.
Mary Fehilly – who was married and in her 70s and from Holy Cross Place in Charleville – was named locally after the incident. She had stopped to buy a Charleville GAA lotto ticket from club member Johnny Collins at his table on the footpath outside Centra on Main Street when the incident happened around 2pm.
Ms Fehilly and Mr Collins were talking when they were struck by a car that mounted the pavement and both suffered serious injuries and were rushed by HSE ambulance to Cork University Hospital where Ms Fehilly was pronounced deceased a short time later.
Mr Collins, who is in his 60s and from Charleville, suffered a broken leg in the incident and underwent surgery for his injury at CUH and today the Garda Press Office described his condition as “stable”.
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Ms Fehilly was the mother-in-law of Fianna Fáil TD for Clare Cathal Crowe.
Paying tribute on social media, Mr Crowe said: “I struck gold when I married into Maeve’s amazing family. The fabulous lynchpin of that family was Mary Fehilly. We are absolutely heartbroken to have tragically lost Mary this weekend.” He said he would temporarily cease canvassing for the forthcoming general election as a result.
Charleville Parish Priest Canon Donal O’Mahony led prayers for both Ms Fehilly and Mr Collins at midday Mass in the town and he told The Irish Times that the tragedy had left everyone in the parish deeply shocked and saddened.
“The accident came as a huge shock to us initially and then when we learned that Mary had died – that’s really shocked and upset the parish – it’s a most unfortunate freak type of accident and for it to end with a fatality is very upsetting.
“Mary was a very treasured member of the parish – she was a devout member of the Eucharistic Ministry team here in the parish for many years – she was a very gracious lady, very humble and full of faith, really, she was always willing to help out in any way she could along the way.”
Canon O’Mahony said that Mr Collins was also very helpful to the parish in that he often power- washed the entrance to the Holy Cross Church in Charleville, and everyone was wishing him well in his recovery.
“Johnny suffered a broken leg but he’s doing well – he was very anxious to know how Mary was doing – they were just having an ordinary chat when the incident happened – both of them were very involved in parish life – as you know Johnny was very involved in the GAA.
“So, they are both in our thoughts and prayers and we pray for Johnny too and wish him a speedy recovery not just from his physical injuries but also from the mental impact because it must undoubtedly be hugely traumatic for him.
“And of course, it was a complete accident so we also have concern for the driver of the car and wish them and their family well – we will all be kind to them and their family in this very difficult time for them too.”
Ms Fehilly is survived by her husband, George, five children and 10 grandchildren.
Charleville GAA Club have cancelled this week’s club Lotto as a mark of respect to Ms Fehilly and they have extended their sympathies to her family as well as the other people involved in the incident.
“Charleville GAA would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the Fehilly family following the tragic death of Mary yesterday on Main Street. Our thoughts and prayers are also with all the other families involved. This week’s Lotto Draw will be cancelled as a mark of respect.”
A Garda Forensic Collision investigator examined the scene of the collision while the car that was involved has been removed for a public service vehicle inspector to carry out a mechanical examination of the vehicle.
Gardaí have also begun harvesting CCTV footage from the centre of Charleville to see if the collision has been captured on camera, but they have also appealed to any motorists with dash cam footage to contact them in Mallow Garda station on 022 31 450.
The incident in Cork comes after another pedestrian died in a separate incident in Co Armagh over the weekend.
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